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1.04.2013

Rickybobby

The ultra popular "pop up" inside Broken Record has finally found itself a home inside the old Rotee. Only a couple weeks old, even on a weekday this place was packed. Best to come early or after 9 to score a seat.

The space is tiny. Community tables are lined up along the walls so even if there are 3 separate parties of 2, don't be surprised that you may likely share a 6 top table. So that means one party of 2 right in the middle of the 2 other parties. A little awkward at first, but the food is so good, its worth it and its not anymore awkward that being squished up in a crowd riding the Muni.Also, as of right now its BYOB. If you forget then you can run across the street to the liquor store and pick something up.

The crawfish and grits dish is must order here. I felt a little sorry for not dropping knowledge on the tables I saw that missed out on ordering this superstar dish. Mounds of spicy sausage are piled on top of a golden gravy mixture of huge crawfish chunks and grits. The flavor of this dish doesn't hit you right away, but when it does it really blows you away. Make sure you get a spoonful with grits, sausage, some crawfish, and a little bit of gravy! The dish just gets tastier as you keep eating it. The grits soak up the spicy, rich gravy. You can't help, but want to lick up every last drop. FYI - I took this dish home and ate it the next day and it tasted just as awesome.

The portion of the sweet potato tater tots was huge. A really sharing size. It comes with a side of ketchup and ranch. The tater tots were not as crispy as I prefer tater tots to be, but if you've never tasted them then its a fun thing to order.

A $3 a piece, I was pleased to find the chicken to be on the larger size. The meat was extremely juicy and flavorful. Good, but not sure I would order it again.

Whats comfort food without an order of their beef and bacon burger. It's probably just as popular as their crawfish grits. It comes with two thick patties made with ground beef and bacon and fried up on bacon fat. It was slapped together with a soft bun and melted cheese. It was juicy, but I was expecting more bacon flavor. I still prefer Nopa's burger, but this one isn't too shaby.

This meal is not for those looking to save on calories. Each dish seems to get more rich and decadent than the previous. I've had lobster mac and cheese a handful of times and it usually sounds a lot better than it tastes. Farfalle (butterfly shaped) pasta baked with proper chunks of lobster, corn, and spinach. The mac and cheese comes with a nice golden brown crust and gooey cheese with a slightly sweet flavor from the lobster and corn. This dish made me a believer that there can be good tasting lobster mac and cheese.

The food is really rich and so delicious that you want to stuff your face into every last piece of it so its really hard to save room for dessert, but make sure you at least order the Hawaiian bread pudding. Its one of those dishes that you wish you had thought of. You know how you scan a dessert at a restaurant and there is always at least one ingredient you are "meh" about? Not this one. TCHO chocolate sauce drizzled between fluffy, sweet Hawaiian bread topped with vanilla bean ice cream then sprinkled with macadamia nuts. Yes please!